RALEIGH, N.C.-The exhibition "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris" just closed at the North Carolina Museum of Art as its second-biggest show ever. Museum director Larry Wheeler estimated the exhibition would draw 100,000 visitors, then revised his guess to 110,000. The total number of visitors are around 123,452. The Auguste Rodin exhibit drew 190,000 people.

The included works of art were carefully chosen for this show, creating a one-of-a-kind exhibition that features some of the world’s finest modern masterpieces. Many of the works selected for Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris rarely travel, and most have never before visited the Southeast.

“This group of modern paintings, sculptures, and drawings represents the finest exhibition of this work ever shown in North Carolina or the Southeast,” said Museum Director Lawrence J. Wheeler. “It really is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition.”

Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris explores the vibrant creativity of the artists who made Paris the center of modern art and culture from the late 19th century to the outbreak of the Second World War.